Everlark in Costume Through The Years
by Norbert's Mom
Summary: This was written for the Everlark Drabble Challenge on Tumblr in response to the prompt: Everlark in costume by ackennedy7.


When Katniss was in kindergarten, she was very proud of her costume because Mama let her decide what she would be. Her hair was in one braid instead of two; she wore a red cowboy hat, a white blouse with yellow at the top and on the cuffs, and her jeans were tucked into brown cowboy boots, but the best part of her costume was the chaps. Mama let Katniss splatter the black fabric paint all over the fake white fur to make it look just like a cow.

When she got to school, Katniss was amazed by all of the different costumes she could see. There were super heroes, and fairies, and a baseball player, and a princess; there was even a lion and a teddy bear. As Katniss took it all in, Delly Cartwright, who was dressed as Little Bo-Peep, ran up to her. "Hey Katniss, you're a cowgirl right?"

Katniss scowled as she turned to Delly. "I'm Jessie the yodeling cowgirl," she proclaimed, astonished that Delly didn't know who she was.

"That's what I thought," Delly said with a smile, before turning around and yelling, "Hey Woody, Jessie's here."

Katniss whipped her head around toward the other side of the room to see Peeta Mellark approaching with a bright dimpled smile. "Hey Katniss, I mean Jessie," he said with a tip of his hat. "Nice to meet you ma'am, I'm Sheriff Woody, at your service."

Katniss and Delly giggled at Peeta's display.

"I like your costume," Katniss said in amazement. "Did your mama make yours, too?" Peeta was wearing a brown cowboy hat, a red bandana around his neck, a yellow shirt with red plaid stripes, a big buckled belt, jeans, cowboy boots and a cow print vest with a gold sheriff's star pinned on the front.

"Nope, I made it all by myself," Peeta proclaimed proudly, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

"You did not!" Katniss protested.

"Are you callin' me a liar?" Peeta narrowed his eyes at her.

Katniss crossed her arms and scowled. "If the boot fits!"

"Say that again!" Peeta demanded.

"If the boot-tuh fits!" Katniss said slowly.

The children stood toe to toe staring at each other, neither giving an inch. Delly looked worried as she stood by watching the scene play out, but both Peeta and Katniss cracked a smile and begun to laugh.

Wiping her eyes, Katniss punched Peeta in the arm, "You know that was Jessie's line in the movie."

Peeta rubbed his arm as he replied, "I _know_! But you didn't believe me when I said I made my own costume, and I _did_."

"Your mama didn't help you?" Katniss couldn't believe anyone's mama wouldn't want to help.

"My mama doesn't live with us anymore," Peeta replied as he squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. "She moved away when I was a baby. My big brother Mickey says us men don't need a mama. He's in fourth grade, so he knows stuff."

Katniss thought it over before replying, "Well, I'm the oldest and my little sister is only one, so we still need our mama."

Peeta frowned and nodded his head, his whole body deflating as he muttered, "Yeah."

Katniss couldn't help but think that Peeta probably wished he still had a mama, too.

After being paired up for the Halloween parade, Katniss and Peeta decided that they were gonna be best friends forever and they would wear matching costumes from then on.

First grade saw them dressed as wizards. In second grade, it was spy kids. In third grade, they dressed as space rebels. Race car drivers were their costumes in fourth grade. Fifth grade they were demon hunters and in sixth grade they dressed as superheroes.

They had so much fun deciding and planning out their costumes, Katniss hoped it would never end, but the winter during sixth grade was a bad one. Katniss' daddy, who was her very best friend besides Peeta, was killed on the freeway coming home from work during a bad snow storm.

Great aunt Mags took the family in when Katniss' mama couldn't take care of her and Prim anymore, moving them all the way across the country to live by the ocean. Katniss and Peeta cried and promised to keep in touch, but Katniss decided she was better off not to care anymore.

Katniss didn't even bother dressing up for Halloween in seventh grade; she instead took Prim around to all the houses dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt. When her cousin Finnick teased her for not wearing a costume, he promised that they would all dress up as a group the following year.

In eighth grade, Katniss carried a chain saw, and Prim a bat; both of them wore clothes splattered with fake blood. Finnick wore a goatee and a cowboy hat and carried a fake shot gun. The pretty girl next door that Finnick insisted was _not_ his girlfriend, dressed as a zombie.

When Katniss was in ninth grade, Finnick and his not-girlfriend Annie were away in college, so Katniss and Prim decided to dress up on their own. Katniss wore a black outfit and mask with a purple wig and cringed when she discovered Prim was going dressed as a sparkly vampire.

For the next three years Katniss dressed as the strong female characters that she identified with in the movies. She was a pistol carrying vampire in tenth grade, a Norse goddess with a sword in eleventh grade and a bow wielding huntress her senior year. That character really hit home with Katniss and made her think maybe she was wrong to cut off ties with her past when she moved away.

When Katniss went to college, she didn't think she would have to worry about costumes anymore, but her roommate Madge told her that everyone dressed up for the off campus Halloween party and no, she wasn't allowed to miss it. Madge was going dressed as a sexy Tinker Bell. If fact, it seemed all the girls in her dorm were going dressed as something sexy.

Katniss decided to stick with her theme of strong female characters that got her through high-school, so she wore a red wig and a black body suit with guns strapped to her hip and leg.

When they got to the party, Katniss was overwhelmed by all of the people, and the smell of cheap beer and cigarettes. She tried to follow Madge through the crowd, but they got separated when someone pulled on her arm.

Katniss turned to find a familiar looking blond girl dressed as a sexy Little Bo Peep staring at her. "You're Katniss Everdeen, aren't you?" The girl asked.

Katniss nodded, and before she could ask how the girl knew her name, Bo Peep was standing on a coffee table yelling across the room, "Hey Steve, Natasha's here."

Katniss' eyes widened as she finally realized how she knew the girl. Her heart started to beat faster when she saw a boy dressed as Captain America approaching. He had a very familiar smile and bright blue eyes.

A/N: Can you figure out all of the movies referenced in this story?

Disclaimer: All characters listed are the property of their respective owners.


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